Indian boy, 10, sacrificed in witchcraft ceremony

UTTAR PRADESH - A 10-year-old boy’s dead body was confirmed to have been mutilated and sacrificed in a witchcraft ceremony after being discovered in a sugarcane field in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh last month, police authorities have reportedly said.Pranshu, who belonged to Rooppur Kamalu village, was found with mutilated ears and heels in November, two days after he went missing, the Times of India said. An Indian worker has allegedly confessed to killing the third year standard student as a way to help his wife become pregnant. On Nov. 23, the victim’s father found his mutilated body in a sugarcane field and initially believed it to have been attacked by wild animals, according to police. But after an autopsy was conducted, the post mortem examination revealed the victim to have been murdered, Brajesh Singh, station officer of local police station, told ToI.Although Pranshu’s father had only informed the police about his son’s dead body and not lodged a formal complaint, the autopsy’s results changed his decision.Following a month-long investigation, a local man, identified only as Durgesh, was arrested for the murder of Pranshu, according to UK MailOnline. He had last been seen with the victim on November 21.Durgesh, who had been the victim’s neighbor, claimed that he had sacrificed the boy because he wanted his wife to give birth to a child, The Times of India reported.Meanwhile, the wife of the arrested man is also set to be interrogated by officers to find out her role in the crime, the police said.Last month, a native 45-year-old woman in Paraguay was accused of practicing witchcraft and then burned alive, a local prosecutor confirmed. Every year, thousands of people worldwide are accused of being witches and practicing witchcraft, according to a report by the United Nations Refugee Agency. Staying true to the trend, the victims are then either abused, shunned from communities and family’s alike or tragically murdered, the UN said.